Beelzebub 1268

[doctordolittle]

Check old better rooms to the rear (4) _N_B
School tests will pin down weak students (5) T _ A _ S
Note was conveyed into the yard (6) T _ _ N _ _

explanatiosn appreciated as usual!!

[bibblebub]

sneb
swats
twenty

[scorpiojo]

2 S w ATS?

[doctordolittle]

Thanks. Swats fits if 16 down is wrong, which it is
Can you explain sneb?

[doctordolittle]

ben means an inner room, so that will do

[bibblebub]

Chambers gives sneb as an old form of snub (which can mean a check) and ben is a Scottish word for "the inner or better room or rooms of a house"

[bibblebub]

(the time taken struggling to separate 2 pages of a book like Chambers does make me prefer to use online dictionaries these days)